


A Weekend Under the Influence

by Dont_touch_the_phlebotinum



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-22
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-13 09:40:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1221490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dont_touch_the_phlebotinum/pseuds/Dont_touch_the_phlebotinum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Waking up naked and hungover in Tony Stark's bed probably isn't the best way to kick off the day, as half the students on campus would most likely attest, though for Loki, it might just turn out to be a blessing in disguise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Friday

Uh... Where was he? Loki could tell he wasn’t in his own bed from just the scent and firmness of the mattress he lay on, which was just as well, because he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to open his eyes yet. God, his head hurt. He didn’t often get hangovers – how much had he had to drink last night?

Probably quite a lot, considering.

He took a chance and cracked his eyelids open. Thankfully the heavy curtains were drawn closed and the room bathed a dark blue, and Loki blinked a few times before trying to sit up, fighting the wave of nausea that hit him when he moved. He didn’t recognise the room, though it was a real bedroom rather than a dorm, the generous space taken up by little more than the bed and a wardrobe. That did slightly narrow down the list of people Loki might have gone home with. But before he could try and wrack his foggy brain for some memories of the night before, he heard floorboards creak outside the room and someone quietly opened the door.

“Ah, Sleeping Beauty finally wakes.” Stark. He was carrying two mugs of strong-smelling coffee in one hand and a bottle of aspirin in the other, and he tossed the aspirin onto the bed beside Loki before offering him one of the mugs. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like the living dead,” croaked Loki as he took hold of the mug and gulped down a mouthful. Hot liquid burned his tongue, but the sensation was still preferable to the others assaulting him.

“You look it, too. Nice bed hair.”

“Fuck you.” Tony grinned in response, though Loki ignored him in favour of reaching for the aspirin – yet as he twisted, the soft cotton sheets brushing against his skin reminded him of the somewhat pressing issue that he wasn’t wearing any clothes. “Did we–” he started.

It wouldn’t be much of a shock. They had come fairly close on a few occasions, even ending up with Tony’s hand down Loki’s pants at a Halloween party weeks earlier, until Tony’s drunken mind had decided it was more important to dance to the Ghostbusters theme than finish getting Loki off. He still made no secret of his attraction to Loki, but while his feelings didn’t go unreciprocated, Loki had little desire to become another figure in Tony’s apparent quest to sleep with every student on campus.

He was likely riddled with diseases by this point, anyway.

Tony’s eyes widened in horror before Loki could finish his sentence. “No,” he said quickly. “You decided we should, to ease all this burgeoning sexual tension between us, but after you managed to get one leg out of your jeans you collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep. I slept on the couch.”

Oh. That was fairly embarrassing. Probably not as embarrassing as if they had actually attempted to have sex, though, so he should count himself lucky.

“Thank you,” Loki said, and swallowed the pills he’d tapped out onto his palm.

“I’ve never seen you drunk like that before.”

“You’ve seen me drunk before.” Just about every time Loki had done more than trade jibes with Tony he’d been intoxicated.

“Not like that,” Tony said. “That wasn’t party drunk. That was drowning my sorrows drunk.”

“Of course you would be able to recognise the difference between the two.”

“I’m well-versed in both,” he said, smiling down at Loki from his position leaning against the windowsill, and Loki settled back into the pillows while he finished his coffee. He still felt like hell, but slightly more human hell than he had when he’d first woke. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” He gave Tony a smile that felt hollow even to him, and set his mug on the nightstand, the last mouthful of coffee sloshing against the sides as he stood and retrieved his clothes from the floor.

“Uh-huh,” Tony said. He didn’t sound remotely convinced, though that was no concern of Loki’s. “I tried calling your brother last night, when I couldn’t remember exactly where your dorm was, and you wouldn’t let me. You guys have a tiff or something?”

“We’re fine.”

His flurry of movement made Loki feel sick again, but he ignored it. Right now he just wanted to get back to his own room. He could throw up or pass out there. He pulled his shirt back on and zipped up his boots before turning back to Tony.

“Your jacket’s downstairs,” he said. He seemed resigned to the fact Loki wasn’t going to tell him anything, which was actually something of a surprise. Tony wasn’t usually the type to let anything go if he didn’t want to.

Loki nodded his thanks and slipped from the bedroom. He squinted at the light that hit him when he entered the hallway before grabbing his jacket draped over the handrail of the staircase and making his way out into the brisk, mid-November air.

It was an overcast morning, to Loki’s relief, though he still dug out the pair of sunglasses which had been sitting in his jacket pocket since September and slipped them on. Hopefully that and the fresh air would help ease his headache by the time he got back to his room. He switched his phone on as he headed across the quad, if only to keep himself from self-consciously flattening out his hair every few steps.

His phone beeped with a text from his younger brother Balder and a voicemail message from the home phone number. He checked the voicemail first.

_“Good morning, darling,”_ his mother’s voice sounded, and Loki smiled despite himself. _“I’m just calling to wish you a happy birthday. I’ve been thinking it would be lovely to have you over for a nice birthday meal – it’s been so long since we’ve seen you. I know you’ll probably be celebrating with your friends this weekend, but perhaps we could do it one night in the week, if you and Thor both have an evening free. Give me a call when you can and we’ll work it all out then. Have fun today, sweetheart. I love you.”_

The text read a simple ‘Happy Birth-day Loki’ with a smiley face poking its tongue out, and Loki slid his phone back into his pocket. He was beginning to feel the cold now he was out of the shelter from the tall buildings, and picked up the pace, wrapping his arms across his chest until he reached the warmth of indoors.

There was an odd sweeping noise when Loki pushed open the door to his room a few minutes later. He ducked inside and peered down to see a large envelope had been pushed under the door, his name scrawled in Thor’s blocky handwriting and the words ‘Happy Birthday’ visible through the white envelope. Loki picked it up and tossed it onto the pile of books on his desk. He’d read it later. He needed to sleep first.

But try as he might, Loki couldn’t silence his thoughts enough to sleep, and he spent the rest of the morning lying in bed staring absently at the blank wall opposite. He should really use this time to return his mother’s call, though it had been over a fortnight since they’d last spoken and she would want Loki to bring her up to speed on everything that had happened in that time, as well as fill her in on his plans for tonight, and Loki just couldn’t face that much human interaction today.

A loud rapping at the door echoed through the room a minute or two later and Loki scowled. It was followed by another, and another, longer each time until Loki threw himself out of bed and opened the door.

Stark. Again.

“I figured you’d be blowing off classes today.”

“Yes, I don’t much fancy company–” Tony nodded and pushed through the gap between Loki and the wall to stroll inside, armed with what was presumably his supplies for the week: a crate of beer and a bag crammed with some of the most unhealthy foods known to man “–so come in, please.”

“Thanks.” He dropped his things on the desk beside Loki’s books and stood surveying the small room.

“What are you doing here?”

“Are you going to tell me what your deal is?” Of course he wasn’t going to let it go so easily. Loki should have known this was coming.

“There’s no deal,” he insisted, as pointless as it may be to try and convince Tony of that. “I had a little too much to drink. It happens. You of all people should be aware of that.”

Was it really so unusual for him to be – what, out drinking? He did that often enough. And Tony was certainly guilty of the same, so he had no reason to label that troubling behaviour. Wanting to be alone? This was how he spent most of his time when he didn’t have classes to go to, though he was usually reading or doing work instead of lying in bed. Tony didn’t even know him. What business was it of his what Loki got up to?

Though sadly that didn’t change the fact that Tony seemed intent on making it his business. He’d settled in, lazily spinning in the desk chair while he scrolled through Loki’s iPod, before selecting a song and placing it back in its docking station.

“What are you doing here?” Loki said again, while the opening riff of the Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter filled the air. He didn’t remember loading the song onto his iPod. It must have been on one of the albums Thor had copied onto it after, having had to play Loki’s iPod during the drive back to school at the end of summer because his own was buried deep in one of his bags, he’d decided Loki’s taste in music sucked.

“I’m allowed to be concerned about you, aren’t I?”

“No,” Loki said, sinking down onto the edge of the bed, “you aren’t. We’re barely even friends, Stark.”

“Yeah, but we have a connection.”

“A handful of drunken makeouts does not count as a connection.”

“I almost gave you a hand job like three weeks ago.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Still not a connection.”

“I’ve seen you naked.”

Now he was really clutching at straws. Loki’s disdain must have been clear on his face, for when he met Tony’s eyes again Tony grinned almost helplessly in response. “Is there anyone at this school you haven’t seen naked yet?”

“Okay,” Tony said, bouncing gently against the backrest of his chair while Loki shifted uncomfortably. He felt oddly exposed, sitting there in nothing but an old t-shirt and his tight boxer shorts. But Tony’s chair was blocking his access to the dresser and the clothes he’d tossed aside once he’d returned this morning smelled too much of stale beer for Loki to want to put them back on – and as Tony had pointed out, he had already seen Loki naked, so the sight of him in his underwear wouldn’t bother Tony. Still, he pulled his t-shirt down as far as he could to retain some of his modesty. “But do you actually have any other friends?

“Hey, it’s cool,” he added quickly before Loki could take offence. “You’ve kind of got this mysterious, stoic loner thing going on – it works. But if I’m not allowed to call your brother and you don’t have anyone else you’re close to, who is there to worry if there’s something really wrong?”

Loki sighed, his frustration dissipating at Tony’s earnest expression. “It’s nothing,” he said. “Really, it’s stupid. This just isn’t my favourite day of the year.”

“Why’s that?” Tony had taken to spinning in the chair again, and as he turned to face the desk his eyes landed on Loki’s card from Thor. No doubt he could see the red lettering as clearly as Loki had. He picked up the envelope and held it up for Loki to see while he spoke again. “You only get 36 presents this year instead of 37?”

He answered with a shrug. “I’m not much of a fan of my birthday these days.”

“Was there some scarring childhood incident involving a clown at a birthday party? There’s no shame in it. Better men than you have been through the same. Birthday clowns, man...” said Tony. He shook his head at whatever traumatic memory of his own he’d raised and Loki chuckled.

“I was adopted,” he said.

Tony’s eyes widened. “You’ve just found out?”

“No, I’ve known for a while, but ever since–” he paused, a light frown knitting his brows together while he considered how best to phrase his next words. “I was found abandoned when I was a few days old. But no-one’s ever really known much more about what happened than that. Supposedly. It’s just difficult to want to celebrate your birthday when you know it’s not actually your birthday.”

Tony nodded thoughtfully. It was possibly the first time Loki had seen him take anything seriously. “Do your folks know?”

He shook his head. “They spent 18 years worrying about how I’d react when they told me; why concern them? It’s not as if it’s really important, in the grand scheme of things.”

“I guess,” Tony said. “Hey, you should come to Clint’s party. It might take your mind off things.”

That was probably what the supplies were for, then. Not that one crate of beer would make much of a difference to the rivers of alcohol Barton had no doubt already stocked. Seemingly every minor event on campus was an excuse for him to throw a party, and more often than not it resulted in someone ending up with blood poisoning. Loki had never seen that as a badge of honour, but apparently he was alone in that view. For everyone else, it served to highlight just what a good time there was to be had at a Barton party.

“Thanks, but I’m not quite in the partying mood. Plus I’m still trying to recover from last night.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

Tony clapped his hands to his thighs and got to his feet. “Sit tight,” he said. “I’ll grab us some lunch.”

He was out of the room before Loki could argue. Well, he was starting to feel a little hungry. And now Tony had stopped being his usual obnoxious self he was actually quite tolerable company.

Loki grabbed his towel and headed out to have a quick shower, and as he strolled back down the corridor towards his room five minutes later he spotted Tony’s head poking up from the far staircase. He held up a white paper bag to show off his spoils when he saw Loki, his grin visible from all the way across the building, and Loki smiled in return before ducking back into his room. He’d just buttoned up a clean pair of jeans when Tony joined him.

“I didn’t know what you’d want so I just got chicken,” he said as he pulled two sandwiches out of the bag.

“That’s fine.”

They settled in to their previous spots and ate quietly, until Tony looked back into the bag with a frown and cursed. “What is it?” Loki said around his mouthful of chicken and lettuce.

“I forgot to get us something to drink.” His gaze passed to the cardboard crate still sitting on Loki’s desk and he glanced back at Loki with an arched eyebrow. “Wash it down with a beer?”

“Why not?”

He caught the can Tony tossed over to him with one hand, resting it between his knees while he finished his food. It wasn’t particularly refreshing, having been sitting out in Loki’s warm room for the past hour, and Loki wrinkled his nose as he took a swig. He really should have put the crate in his mini fridge when Tony turned up. Though he hadn’t known he was going to be drinking, and he didn’t particularly care about Barton’s party enough to be concerned with whether or not the guests had cold drinks. It wasn’t as if they would care much, either.

“Don’t let me drink any more, though,” Tony said. “I gotta take the rest to Clint’s.”

It didn’t take him long to forget about that. By the time Tony had even remembered Barton was throwing a party, he and Loki had polished off at least half the crate and the sky outside Loki’s window was rapidly growing black.

Tony was sprawled out on the bed at Loki’s feet, his shoes kicked into different corners of the room and his coat rolled up under his head to serve as a pillow, holding yet another beer can upside down over his face to catch the last few drops on his tongue. Once there was nothing more to come he dropped his arm back onto the bed with a dull thump and frowned at the can, before turning to look back up at Loki.

“I was supposed to bring these to Clint, wasn’t I?”

“You still could,” Loki replied. “How many’s left?”

He rolled onto his stomach and peered into the box on the bed beside them. Loki was almost starting to believe he wouldn’t come up again, that he’d fallen asleep or had somehow managed to distract himself, but finally he raised his head. “Five,” he announced.

Oops.

“Five is better than none.”

“That’s a good point,” he said, pointing his finger at Loki. “Come on, Loki; come with me. You have to come.”

“I told you I don’t want to.”

“Well you didn’t want to hang out with me all afternoon either and look how much fun you’re having.”

He may have been right there, but Loki wasn’t going to admit it. And just because one almost-friend turned out to be less of a pain than usual, it didn’t mean 100 wasted classmates would do the same.

“Why do you want me to go so badly?” Loki said.

“’Cause you can’t spend your Friday night sitting alone in your room, especially not when it’s... not your birthday. Whatever – you know what I mean. Plus, if you come I’ll probably end up having sex tonight, and that works out well for me,” he added with a grin.

Loki raised an eyebrow. “How do you make that leap?” he chuckled.

“It’s simple, really; whenever there’s you and me and vast quantities of alcohol, things tend to happen between us. Last night you ended up naked in my bed. The time before that–”

“–you left me high and dry to dance to cheesy 80’s theme music?”

“Right.” At least he looked sheepish about that. Though Loki being annoyed they didn’t actually go through with it probably wasn’t going to help support his argument that he didn’t want Tony. “My point is you like me. When you’re drunk is the only time you loosen up enough to act on it.”

“No, when I’m drunk is the only time I forget what a stupid idea it would be to go to bed with you.”

“What?” Tony said with a frown while he sat back up, one hand gripping Loki’s ankle to steady himself until he’d adjusted to being upright again. His hand didn’t leave Loki afterwards, though. “What’s stupid about two consenting adults having healthy, safe and really, really good sex?”

“And if we did, what would I be? Number 168 on Tony Stark’s list of conquests?”

“You wouldn’t be a conquest.”

“So I’m special, am I?”

As Loki spoke Tony moved up the bed toward him, spilling into the small space on the mattress beside Loki’s body, his eyes locked on Loki’s. His face was close enough for Loki to lean forward and kiss him – and usually by this point he already would have done – but as tempting as it was, Loki resisted. He’d meant what he said. Though as he stared at Tony and the woody scent of Tony’s cologne filled the air between them, it grew increasingly difficult to remember why exactly Loki felt so strongly about it.

“Of course,” Tony said.

Yes, he was special now. Once he’d actually fallen into bed with Tony would be a different matter. And there was the reason he’d been searching for.

“You only want me because I’m unattainable, Tony,” Loki said. It was more an observation than an insult, though Tony’s brow still furrowed again as he held Loki’s gaze. “If we had already slept together, would you have even bothered to make sure I got home safely last night?”

“You don’t think I care about you at all?”

Loki studied Tony’s face for a moment. He hadn’t meant for it to sound like that. Had he? Jesus, he didn’t know. He didn’t want to think about this anymore. “Fuck it,” he said instead of answering Tony’s question, slamming his beer can on the nightstand with more force than he’d intended before rolling off the bed and onto his feet. “Let’s go to Barton’s party.”

 

Barton’s dorm was only a short walk from Loki’s, and as he and Tony approached, their bodies close and coats wrapped tightly around themselves to keep the cold at bay, it became clear the party was already well under way. The building’s double doors were wide open, students milling around in the doorway and on the steps leading up to it, and the heavy bassline of the music playing was loud enough to reach Tony and Loki’s ears long before they’d even turned onto the path that lead up to the building.

“I’m only staying for an hour,” Loki said, and he glanced over at Tony to see him nod. “And I’m not drinking.”

“Got it.”

He ended up breaking both of those promises.

They pushed through the throng in the doorway to find the entire common area had been taken over. The large room was packed, the sound of dozens of conversations taking place at once somehow sounding over the music, and as they were sucked further into the room Tony waved up at Barton, lording over his chaos at the top of the staircase and talking to a redhead Loki vaguely recognised but whose name he couldn’t remember. Barton saluted to Tony with a smirk before they passed the stairs and he dropped out of their sight.

“Glad you came yet?” Tony said while he shrugged off his coat and tossed it over the back of a nearby armchair, oblivious to the woman already sitting in the chair who turned to shoot him a dirty look for it. Loki folded his own over his arm. He didn’t fancy having to spend 40 minutes trying to find it again if he put it down somewhere.

“Yes, this past minute has been thrilling.” He grinned when Tony stuck his tongue out in response.

“You’ll have fun, I promise. I’m going to get us some drinks – don’t go anywhere.”

He worked his way into the heart of the crowd, stopping to greet every other person as he went. This was him in his element. No wonder he was practically a celebrity on campus. Loki watched him for a moment until he heard a loud cry of “little brother!” from behind him and a solid mass barrelled into him, the thick arms looping across his front keeping him from lurching forward. The impact shuddered through him.

“Hi,” Loki said, patting Thor’s arm with the one hand that wasn’t trapped against his chest, though Thor didn’t loosen his grip.

“Did you get my card?”

“I did; thank you. It’s difficult to breathe, Thor.”

“Oh, sorry.” He released Loki with a smile and took another sip of the drink he’d thankfully avoided spilling over Loki’s shirt. “Are you having a good time?”

“I should be any moment now.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Mother called me this morning,” he said. “She wants us to go over for dinner in the week, if you aren’t busy.”

“I have nothing planned on Wednesday,” Thor replied after a moment’s thought.

Loki nodded. “I’ll call her back tomorrow.” But Thor had stopped listening, instead reaching out to give one of his friends a high five as a group of them walked past. Loki rolled his eyes.

Luckily he spotted Tony returning from across the room and smiled as he approached. “I couldn’t find anything without alcohol in it,” Tony said apologetically before turning to Thor. “Hey, buddy.”

A knowing smile dawned on Thor’s face while he glanced from Tony to Loki. “So are you two here together?”

“No,” Loki replied at the same moment Tony said the opposite. “Not in the way you’re thinking,” he elaborated.

“I don’t need to tell Barton not the play the Ghostbusters theme song tonight, then?”

If ever there was a perfect moment for the earth to swallow him whole, this would be it. Loki squeezed his eyes shut, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. He was going to kill Thor.

“You know about that?” Tony said.

“Everybody knows about that.” That was just what Loki needed to hear to make it better. He plucked the cup out of Tony’s hand and downed half Tony’s drink. “Don’t worry, Loki,” Thor continued. “Give it another week and Stark will have done something even more ridiculous and everyone will forget about Halloween.”

“Hey!”

“You have to admit that is quite likely,” Loki said wryly.

“Well I’ll leave you to it,” Thor cut in before Tony could offer a comeback, clapping a hand to Loki’s shoulder and gulping down the last mouthful of his own drink. “Have a good night.”

He disappeared into the mass of people and Tony and Loki headed in the other direction. They found a quieter – though not by any real definition of the word quiet – spot and settled in on the small couch in the corner, spending the evening in much the same way they’d spent their afternoon, until Loki’s fatigue finally caught up with him.

He let out a long yawn and broke the silence that had settled over the pair. “I think I’ll head home,” he said as he stretched and pushed himself to his feet.

“You had fun tonight though, right?”

“I did have fun.” He smiled down at Tony while he spoke and Tony beamed in return. “You can rest easy now.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No; stay if you’re having a good time.” The party was still in full swing around them as they weaved through the crowd. Loki didn’t think anyone had even been rushed to hospital yet – it must be early. “I’m just going to get in and fall straight into bed.”

“Okay,” Tony said, somehow managing to refrain from asking if Loki wanted company once he got there. “Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Schoolwork.”

He scoffed at that. “No-one does work on a Saturday.”

“I do,” Loki called over his shoulder as he headed toward the door. Once he’d pushed his way through the doorway he glanced back to see Tony still stood in place staring after him, and he grinned to himself while he skipped down the steps and strolled back to his room.

He didn’t even bother getting undressed before he threw himself down onto the bed and fell asleep.


	2. Saturday

Loki woke feeling much better than he had the morning before. No headache. No nausea. He didn’t even feel tired. Though that last part might have had less to do with his lucky escape from another hangover and more to do with the fact he’d slept in two hours later than usual. But it could be worse, he supposed. He was probably up earlier than everyone else who’d been at Barton’s last night.

Anyway, he was allowed a break every once in a while. And if he couldn’t sleep late the morning after his birthday, when could he?

He quickly washed and changed into some fresh clothes, snatching the last apple from the fridge while he phoned his mother. Yet despite going through the usual process of catching up with far more enthusiasm that he would have had if he’d called yesterday, Loki couldn’t help but zone out a little. As much as he loved speaking to her, his day-to-day life just wasn’t as interesting as she apparently found it, and as he divulged every boring detail of the last week and a half, he started flipping open his textbooks and a notepad to plan out the paper he needed to write this weekend.

To his disappointment, it didn’t get any easier to concentrate after he’d hung up the phone.

Loki was trying to reread yet another wall of text in his book for the fourth time without success when there was a fast tapping on his door. “Come in,” he called, turning his music down while he squeezed his eyes shut to wash away the words burned into his retinas.

“Good God, you’re actually doing work.”

“I told you.” He tossed his pen down on top of his open book and looked up at Tony, leaning against the doorway sporting a thick peacoat he’d only bothered to unbutton halfway and a battered pair of jeans. “What’s up?”

“Tell me you don’t have plans tonight.”

“Why, what do you have in mind?”

“I’m thinking movie, dinner, drinks–”

“–sex?”

“Well if you insist. I’m kidding,” he said. “Totally platonic, if that’s what you want. Call it a birthday present. Or a ‘being rescued by a kindly stranger’ day present.”

Loki smiled, chewing on his bottom lip for a moment while he considered. It had been a while since he’d had a proper night out, one that didn’t involve getting dragged to parties or drinking far more than he really should. “Okay,” he said. “It sounds like fun.”

“Pick you up at five?” Loki nodded. “It’s a date, then. Or not.”

“Did you come all the way over here just to ask me that in person? I have a phone, you know.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Tony scoffed. “This is Rhodey’s building as well. And since he’s too busy to party with the rest of us, I have to annoy him in my own time.”

Lucky Rhodey – though Loki certainly wouldn’t mind having Tony’s company to distract him from his paper. But if they were going to be hanging out again later, Loki didn’t want to take up his afternoon as well, especially after spending near enough the entire day together yesterday. There was only so much Tony he could handle. And he had a feeling Tony’s presence wouldn’t be particularly conducive to getting anything done.

“Surely that’s just second nature to you now, though. It won’t even feel like work.”

Tony clutched a hand to his heart. “Ouch,” he said, a stricken expression on his face as he looked down at Loki. “And here I was offering to show you the time of your life tonight. I’m reconsidering this whole plan now.”

“I’ll see you at five, then, Stark,” Loki said as Tony turned to head back into the corridor.

“No you won’t. You’ve blown your chance.” He winked back at Loki and grinned before closing the door behind him. Once the door clicked shut Loki returned to his work with a smile of his own.

 

It was just after five when Tony’s customary knock sounded at Loki’s door. He had been standing in front of his mirror for the last several minutes deliberating whether or not to change his t-shirt. It was one of his favourites, and he looked good in it, but it probably wasn’t the best time of year to go out in a tight v-neck. It wasn’t as if he had much meat on his bones to insulate him. Plus he didn’t want Tony to get the wrong message about tonight. He still wasn’t 100% sure what the message he wanted to send was, though if he did decide he wanted more than friendship he could think of plenty of other ways to let Tony know.

“Just a minute,” he said, yanking a black shirt off its hanger and quickly buttoning it up over his t-shirt before surveying his appearance one last time. It was a little dressier than he’d have liked, but it would have to do.

“Wow,” Tony said when Loki opened the door, his eyes flicking up and down Loki’s body. “You look great.” He didn’t look too bad himself. He’d chosen a simple shirt as well, his a deep burgundy with the top few buttons open, and had changed into a pair of black trousers. “Ready to go?”

Loki nodded, grabbing his coat and slipping it over his shoulders as he followed Tony out the door.

At this time of year, the choice of movies to watch wasn’t a particularly impressive one, but luckily one of the few films being shown that actually looked like it could be interesting appealed to them both; some remake of an old thriller Loki remembered seeing on television years ago. Though they may have spent more time trying to steal each other’s popcorn than paying attention to the movie. Either way, they had fun.

“So what did you think of the movie?” Tony said once they’d been shown to their seats in a restaurant far too upmarket for a couple of college students to have any right attending. Some of the other patrons seemed to think so too; Loki had noticed more than one sidelong glance their way as they’d strolled through the opulent dining room and taken their seats.

“I liked it,” he replied. “Though I am struggling to remember what happened.”

Tony chuckled at that. “Did you find my presence distracting?”

“Yes, because you were being a complete pain.”

“Hey you started it, pal.”

“I did no such thing,” Loki said, trying and failing to mask his smile before he glanced away to take in more of the room. This was the kind of place he would come with his parents – and even then only on a special occasion. The whole restaurant was luxuriously decorated yet still tasteful, the chandelier overhead raining soft light down on them while a pianist tinkled away at the grand piano not far from their table. He and Tony must have stood out like a sore thumb. Neither of them were even wearing suits; it was unbelievable they’d been allowed inside at all.

“So are you going to tell me how you can possibly afford this? You didn’t sell a kidney just to impress me, did you?”

“Would that work?” Tony said with a crooked smile. “You ever heard of Stark Industries?”

“Should I have?”

“No, not really. It’s the company my dad founded when he was around our age. Military contracts, mostly.”

“Big business.” That explained how Tony could afford to live on his own off-campus and drive a brand new Audi.

“Yeah. When he and my mom died, they pretty much left me everything.”

Loki wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. He’d heard Tony had lost his parents a couple of years before – a car accident or plane crash, supposedly – but Tony had never broached the subject himself. “Are you going to take over once you graduate?” he said, hopefully steering Tony away from thinking about his parents.

“That’s the plan.”

“Nervous?”

“Nah,” Tony replied. “It’s only running a multi-million dollar company; how hard can it be?”

The light-hearted grin he shot Loki didn’t stretch to his eyes. Yet Loki didn’t push him to reveal how he really felt about it, and a moment later their waitress’ arrival thankfully served to distract them both from the topic.

“You know, I’m actually having a really good time,” Tony said after the waitress had disappeared with their order. “I don’t know why I don’t do this with people more often.”

“Because it’s a waste of valuable time that could be spent in the bedroom?”

Loki couldn’t really take the moral high ground, though. His idea of romance was about the same as Tony’s, one night stands with strangers he met at parties, just not with nearly the same frequency. He couldn’t remember the last time he went on a proper date. Most of the time it just felt rather pointless. But Tony was right; this was a lot of fun.

“I don’t consider this evening a waste of time,” he said, smiling up at the waitress as she returned with their first course. He swallowed a mouthful of his soup before speaking again. “And there’s still the rest of the night for us to have sex.”

Loki couldn’t help but laugh. You had to admire Tony’s confidence. “Isn’t this supposed to be a platonic evening?”

“Is it?”

He’d expected that question to come up. That didn’t mean he had an answer yet, though. He sucked on the inside of his cheek while he met Tony’s eyes. “I haven’t decided yet,” he said.

“You still think I’m only interested in getting sex from you? Even after all of this?”

“Come on, Stark,” Loki said. “Are you telling me that if you really wanted someone, but they didn’t want to be just another one night stand, you wouldn’t pull all this to get them into bed? Do you even do real relationships?”

Tony considered that for a moment and shrugged. “Is that what you’re looking for,” he said, “a real relationship?”

That was a fairly terrifying thought.

“I’m not looking for anything. I just don’t want to be meaningless. Not to you.”

Loki looked back down at his plate. He could feel Tony watching him as he finished his starter. “For the record,” Tony said, his eyes still on Loki when he glanced back up and a tiny smile on his face, “you could never be.”

If only Loki could believe that. He’d probably drag Tony home there and then if he was certain they would still be friends – or whatever it was they actually were to each other at this point – even after they slept together. But as it was, Loki would rather get to know Tony better as a friend and hope their mutual attraction faded away than act on it for one night and never speak to each other again.

“Maybe we’ll find out,” he replied, and Tony’s smile widened.

“Maybe we will.”

They did.

The pair had gone straight back to Tony’s after finishing what was possibly the most delicious, and definitely the most expensive, meal Loki had ever tasted, and Loki was stood in Tony’s large, modern living room studying the mess of metal parts and electronics littering the desk while Tony fetched them something to drink.

“What is this?” he said when Tony returned with a glass of whiskey in each hand.

“If it works the way it’s supposed to, which it will, it’ll be a robotic arm when it’s done. Similar to the kind you get in assembly lines, only with its own limited intelligence.”

“Do you spend much of your free time building robots in your living room?” He smiled as he spoke, his eyes following Tony back across the room toward the stereo in the corner.

“Actually, yes.”

“Impressive.”

“I know,” Tony said with a grin as soft music filled the air. Modesty had never been one of Tony’s strong points. It had been one of the main causes of Loki’s dislike for him when they’d first met, but as they had grown a little closer it had become strangely endearing.

Loki strolled to the couch and sank down, but instead of joining Loki, Tony took a sip of his drink and moved in time to the music. “I like this song,” Loki said, though as he took in the sight of Tony dancing it grew somewhat difficult to pay attention to anything else. He knew how to move his hips, that was for sure.

So much for his attraction to Tony diminishing the more time they spent together.

Loki was so transfixed he barely heard when Tony said, “are you going to come dance then? Or are you just going to sit there and enjoy the view?”

“It is quite a view,” he said with a grin once he’d managed to tear his eyes away to meet Tony’s gaze. An identical smile spread across Tony’s face in response, and he crossed back toward Loki to pull him to his feet. This was dangerous territory they were veering into. It was hard enough just to watch Tony, and this was so much worse. And Loki loved it.

As the minutes passed and one song bled into another, Loki and Tony inched closer and closer, broad smiles on their faces, dancing as if they were in a crowded, sweaty nightclub rather than Tony’s home. It didn’t matter where they were. All Loki could see was Tony.

Their bodies were almost touching when Tony spoke again. “So have you made a decision yet?”

As if he even needed to ask. Loki answered him with a kiss; a chaste brush of lips that neither of them hesitated in deepening. Loki’s tongue slid into Tony’s mouth, tasting alcohol and faint traces of breath mints on his tongue, as Tony looped his arms around Loki’s neck to pull him in closer. It was a vast improvement on all the sloppy, drunken kisses they had shared in the past.

“Good decision,” Tony said when they broke apart. He was on Loki again in an instant, his body pressed firmly against Loki’s, their hands grasping in each other’s clothes, but it was over far too soon for Loki’s liking. “You know,” he said, glancing up at Loki through his eyelashes, “I still owe you a hand job.”

Just the thought of it was enough to send Loki’s blood flooding south. Whatever doubts he may still have, his lust was doing an excellent job of silencing them.

“I’m glad you remember.”

A devilish look twinkled in Tony’s eyes as he closed his hand around Loki’s and dragged him up to the bedroom.

He’d been too drunk, and subsequently too hungover, to pay much attention to Tony’s bedroom before, though tonight Loki managed a quick glance across the clean space as he entered the room half a step in front of Tony. Considering Tony’s reputation for spending the majority of him time in bed with someone or other, his bedroom looked barely lived in compared to the rest of his home; sparsely furnished, with one lone picture frame sitting on the nightstand the room’s only real decoration.

The door closed behind Tony with a bang and Loki turned, finding Tony’s hands pulling him in before he could even finish twisting to face him. They shared another hungry kiss as they awkwardly fumbled to unbutton each other’s shirts and Loki cursed his decision to wear something that would take so damn long to remove. What the hell had he been thinking?

“Jesus, how many layers are you wearing?” Tony said once he’d stripped off one shirt to find Loki’s t-shirt underneath.

Loki grinned. “Impatient?” he replied, tugging his t-shirt over his head to save Tony the trouble.

“Yes. Do you know how long I’ve wanted us to do this?”

“I think I have some idea.”

He closed the distance between them again and captured Tony’s already bruised lips while he wrenched open the rest of Tony’s shirt. Tony was surprisingly muscular; the t-shirts he typically wore certainly flattered him, though in the considerable time Loki had spent picturing what Tony looked like beneath them he hadn’t imagined Tony would be so well-built. Without even thinking about it he was brushing his fingers down Tony’s stomach.

“Still think I’m going to forget about you by tomorrow?” The smile was audible in Tony’s voice as he spoke.

“I don’t care.”

He probably would in the morning. He’d probably hate himself in the morning. But that was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight’s problem was the logistical challenge of getting himself and Tony out of the rest of their clothes now they had dropped down onto the bed in a mass of entwined limbs.

Tony pulled back, leaving wet kisses along Loki’s bare chest for as long as he could reach, and his hand slid between their bodies to work open Loki’s jeans. It relieved some of the pressure against Loki’s erection, but his boxer shorts were still uncomfortably tight and Tony was apparently in no hurry to remove them. He massaged Loki through the thin cotton, too lightly to do anything but drive Loki insane, until Loki made a sound somewhere between a moan and a whimper.

“You need more?”

“Just hurry up,” he said. They’d spent too long dancing around this to waste their time teasing each other. He raised his hips to help Tony strip off his jeans and made himself comfortable lying back against the pillows while Tony removed his own clothes as well.

The rest of his body was just as impressive as his top half had been. Loki grinned as his eyes flicked down to Tony’s cock, but before he could so much as move Tony had climbed back onto the bed, kneeling between Loki’s spread legs and finally closing his hand around Loki’s erection.

He didn’t waste any time, firmly sliding his hand up and down Loki’s length, tightening his grip and twisting ever so slightly each time he reached the tip. It wasn’t much different from the way Loki got himself off, and he closed his eyes and let out a long groan of pleasure.

“That good, huh?”

“You’re getting the job done.” Though he was doing a damn sight better than that. It didn’t take him long to have Loki writhing beneath him close to losing control completely, something a distinct few of Loki’s sexual partners succeeded in doing, but Tony wasn’t finished yet. At the feel of hot breath on his cock Loki opened his eyes to see Tony inches away from him, and he licked a long strip up the length of Loki’s erection, sucking on the head when he reached it – and oh fuck, that felt incredible.

Loki gasped in response and his head fell back hard against the wall, but he was too preoccupied lingering on the verge of orgasm to care about the pain splintering through his skull. It was only another few strokes of Tony’s hand before Loki came.

He was still coming down when the mattress dipped at his sides and Tony planted a brief kiss on his lips, grinning at Loki as he opened his eyes again. “I’d say that was worth the wait,” Loki said as he gripped Tony’s thighs and Tony leant forward to kiss him again in response.

His hands slid higher and Tony let out a tiny noise of approval when Loki reached the firm swell of his arse and gave a playful squeeze – but it wasn’t half as fulfilling as the noise Tony made as Loki spread his cheeks, his finger ghosting over Tony’s hole.

“Do you have–”

“Yeah,” Tony said, and climbed off Loki to root through the drawers of his nightstand. Thank God; nothing would kill the mood more than having to get cleaned up and dressed to relocate to Loki’s dorm. A box of condoms came flying at Loki’s head before Tony returned to straddling Loki’s lap with a small bottle of lube in his hand. He poured a helping onto Loki’s palm and Loki reached between his legs again to work him open. “Shit, that’s cold.”

“Don’t be a baby.”

Tony pouted at him for that. His fingers danced down Loki’s stomach as he mouthed his way along Loki’s neck, and he wrapped a hand around Loki’s dick, stroking him hard again. “You aren’t going to come to your senses any minute and bail on me, are you?”

It was a little tempting, actually; Loki’s revenge for Tony doing the same to him, though Tony had done a spectacular job of making it up to Loki already, and they had come too close now for Loki to really consider putting a stop to this.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

“Good to know.” Tony’s hand slipped from Loki’s erection and he looked up to meet Loki’s eyes. “Ready to go again?”

“Absolutely.” He pulled his fingers from Tony and slipped on a condom, before Tony took hold of Loki’s cock again and lowered himself down. His mouth dropped open slightly, eyes still burning into Loki’s, and Loki fought his urge to thrust upwards in one fast movement. It was better this way. If this was to be the only time they did this, Loki wanted to savour it.

He grasped Tony’s hips as Tony slowly raised himself and sank back down, grinding into Loki when he was seated back on his lap just enough to draw gasps from them both. Tony could probably get Loki off just by keeping this up, it felt so intense, but instead he threaded his fingers with Loki’s and leant forward to pin Loki’s hands down on either side of his head.

Oh, God... This was so much better.

“You like this?” Tony said at Loki’s smile. He was looming over Loki, close enough for him to feel Tony’s breath on his skin, his dick pressed between their bodies and dribbling pre-cum onto Loki’s stomach as their movements gained speed. If Loki hadn’t been able to hazard a guess toward why Tony was so popular, he had concrete proof now. He had expected the talk of Tony’s talent as a lover to be wildly exaggerated, a game of Chinese Whispers growing more extreme with each retelling of the story, but if anything it would seem they were too modest. Loki hadn’t been fucked like this in years.

“Yes,” he gasped, fingers tightening around Tony’s and Tony pushed him down harder in return.

“That’s–” a sharp moan cut him off as Loki rocked his hips to meet Tony pushing back against him “–that’s a little kinky, Loki.”

“Oh, this is nothing,” he said. He practically purred the words. It was a wonder he was even able to carry on a conversation. Tony’s warm skin on Loki’s, his muscles clenching around Loki until he shouted and moaned in ecstasy, were proving somewhat distracting, and Loki’s brain was fast shutting down as pleasure overwhelmed him.

There was a spark of interest in Tony’s eyes at the words, and as he released Loki’s hands Loki almost believed he was pulling away so they could explore it further. But instead he sat up, the thin sheen of sweat clinging to his skin glistening in the light of the room, a low groan escaping him at the change in angle. His hands on Loki’s chest for support, Tony raised his hips until Loki had slipped from him almost completely, the air on Loki’s dick cold compared to the heat of Tony’s body, and he slammed himself down hard. They both cried out in response.

A few more times, each one sending them both closer to the edge, and Loki couldn’t just lie back while Tony rode him any longer. He was too far gone now to draw this out. He pushed himself up, wrapping an arm around Tony’s back and leaving open-mouthed kisses along Tony’s collarbone and throat while his free hand closed around Tony’s flushed cock.

“Oh, fuck,” Tony gasped when Loki started stroking him as best he could in the limited space between their bodies, dropping his head to rest against Loki’s temple and rolling his hips against Loki’s as he gripped Loki’s shoulders, “that feels so good.”

His fingernails dug into Loki’s skin and he circled his hips faster until Loki’s muscles tensed, toes curling and his balls drawing up as he spilled inside Tony, and within seconds Tony was moaning Loki’s name and his own release splattered across Loki’s stomach.

They collapsed back against the mattress gasping, hands still brushing along each other’s damp skin while they caught their breaths. “I had a feeling we would end up here eventually,” Loki said.

“Knew you couldn’t resist me forever, did you?” He offered Loki a grin when Loki shot him a sidelong glance, and he shifted to lie at Loki’s side, running his fingers through his messy hair before meeting Loki’s gaze again. “Do you wish we’d done this sooner?”

That was a tricky question – or perhaps just one Loki’s brain wasn’t yet working enough to find a definitive answer to. On one hand, they had been so great together it was a tragedy it had taken them this long to have sex, but on the other, they had grown closer over the past couple of days than they had in two years of knowing each other, and regardless of whether or not they would actually stay friends after this, that wouldn’t have happened if they had already slept together.

“If we had gone to bed any of the times we were drunk enough to come close,” Loki said, instead of attempting to form an intelligent sentence from his thoughts, “do you think it would have been nearly as good?”

“You’ve got a point there,” Tony said. He looked over at Loki with heavy eyelids as he spoke, and he stifled a yawn before continuing. “Come on; let’s go get cleaned up.”

He grabbed Loki’s hand to help pull him up and Loki followed Tony down the hall into the bathroom, despite his body’s urge to simply curl up in Tony’s bed and sleep. Loki leant back against the counter while they cleaned the mess from their stomachs, and as Tony tossed the washcloth into the basin behind Loki he glanced up at him with a smile. “So,” he said, “what do you want to do now?”

Loki grinned. He could think of a few things.


	3. Sunday

Loki stood alone in Tony’s bedroom, hands on his hips, debating whether or not it was worth it to put his boxer shorts and t-shirt back on. Now that he’d opened the window a little to let the smell of sex air out of the room a chill crept in, but climbing back under the covers would probably be enough to chase away the cold. And if he had his way he’d need to be out of his clothes again soon enough.

The floorboards creaked on the other side of the bedroom wall and Loki turned as Tony stepped back into the room with his laptop tucked under his arm. “Do we want popcorn?” he said.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to eat anything else for days.”

Tony chuckled. “Yeah, me neither.”

They made themselves comfortable in bed while the laptop booted up and put a film on, paying about as much attention to it as the one they’d watched earlier that night. But at least it was more fun distracting each other this time. Kissing soon turned to touching and before long they were rolling over for another quick fuck even better than their first. The film hadn’t even reached the halfway point when Tony drifted off against Loki’s shoulder, and Loki gently lowered him down onto the mattress before turning off the laptop and joining him.

Loki woke as a shiver wracked his body. He was perched precariously at the edge of the bed, most of his body exposed to the cold air, which made Tony’s skin against Loki’s side feel even warmer by comparison. As he opened his eyes Tony stirred beside him, his ridiculous goatee scratching at Loki’s shoulder when he moved.

“Look at that,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to Loki’s skin while Loki turned to look at him, “still here in the morning.”

“We’re in your bed, Stark.”

“Even so; I’d normally be hiding out downstairs until you took the hint and cleared out,” he replied with a smile, and Loki’s lips twitched in response. Well there wasn’t any awkwardness between them so far, to his relief. Maybe things would be all right between them after all.

“Aren’t I lucky, then?”

“Yep.”

He kissed Loki’s shoulder blade again, fingers trailing up and down Loki’s spine as Loki lost the battle to keep his smile at bay. “You’re hogging the covers,” he said and Tony shifted back toward his side of the bed to give Loki more room, throwing the bedsheets over him once Loki had made himself comfortable.

It didn’t do much to ease the cold which had well and truly seeped into Loki’s bones, but he was soon distracted when he glanced toward the clock on the nightstand and his eyes fell on the picture frame instead.

“Are these your parents?” he said, lifting down the picture for a better look. Tony was a few years younger – no older than 18, by the looks of it – with a broad grin on his face and clad in a sharp suit, standing between an equally well-dressed man and woman both smiling serenely.

“Yeah,” Tony replied. “That’s the last picture of me and them before they died.”

Loki carefully set the frame back in place. “I see the resemblance.”

“Everyone says that.” Loki turned back to face Tony with a smile matching the one already stretching across Tony’s face. “So are you sticking around for a while?” he said after a moment.

It was a tempting offer. Loki didn’t even want to think about getting out of bed yet. But sadly life got in the way, as it had a nasty habit of doing. “I can’t. I still have work to finish.”

“Blow it off.”

“And say what? ‘I couldn’t finish my paper because I was too busy having sex with Tony Stark’?”

Tony shrugged, though the gesture didn’t look quite right while he was propped up on one elbow. “Sounds like a valid excuse to me,” he said. “Come on; only crazy people would choose work over sex.”

“Well my being crazy would explain how we ended up here,” Loki replied, and Tony’s jaw dropped in feigned offence.

“You know you loved it.”

“Which is likely another sign of insanity.” Despite his body’s protests, Loki dragged himself out of bed and stretched his stiff muscles. Tony was watching him appreciatively when Loki glanced back down at him. “Do you mind if I use your bathroom?”

“Go nuts. Though if you want to take a shower, there’s a trick to getting it to work. Probably best if I show you.”

“In that case,” Loki said, leaning against the doorframe with a smile, “perhaps you should join me.”

The trick to getting the shower to come on turned out to be simply twisting the knobs. Funny, that. Tony swore innocence when Loki pointed that out, though he quickly realised lying wasn’t his strong suit and changed tactics, pushing Loki back against the tiled wall and kissing him hungrily before sinking down to his knees. This was definitely the more effective approach. It did make it harder for Loki to find the strength to leave afterwards, though he’d already given in to temptation too many times this weekend to do it again. He forced himself to bid Tony goodbye with a kiss and headed back to his dorm.

 

He’d relocated to the library a few hours later, his laptop sitting open in front of him and books and his own notes filling most of the table, while he stared intently at the screen in the hope words would miraculously start flowing from him. That wasn’t about to happen any time soon, though. Heavy footfalls grew closer to Loki’s table, and he glanced up just in time to see Thor drop his gym bag onto the last empty part of the tabletop and flop down into the seat opposite Loki.

“I’m surprised you know how to find this place,” Loki said.

“I saw you through the window; thought I would come and say hello,” Thor replied, choosing to ignore Loki’s barb. “I tried to call you last night, but your phone was switched off. Where were you?”

“Busy. What did you want?”

“Busy with Tony Stark?”

As attempts at being casual go, Loki had seen much better than Thor’s. Though he usually didn’t bother with subtlety, preferring to come straight out and ask whatever question he was curious about, so he could be commended for his effort. Loki closed his laptop and met Thor’s eyes.

“Why would you assume that?” he said.

Thor shrugged in response. “You two seem to be growing close. Did you have sex with him?”

Well the subtlety didn’t last long, did it? Loki opened and closed his mouth a few times, struggling to find an appropriate response to the question. Answers with varying degrees of sarcasm and vitriol filtered through his mind, though none made it to his tongue. That was probably for the best.

A tiny smile played on Thor's lips while he watched Loki. "Shall I take your silence to mean 'yes'?"

As oblivious as he was most of the time, Thor could be irritatingly good at deciphering what was going on in Loki's head when he wanted to be. And when he wanted it to be was usually the precise moment Loki didn't want his thoughts deciphered. It was all he could do to keep from scowling when he met Thor's eyes. "Keep it to yourself, okay?"

"Why?" Thor leant forward, his expression growing a little more serious. But not by much. "Do you regret it?"

"I don't know how I feel about it," Loki replied, glancing back down at his notes to avoid Thor's searching gaze. "And I have too much work to do to waste time thinking about Tony Stark at the moment. So if you don't mind..."

With a loud sigh Thor grabbed his sports bag and hefted it over his shoulder as he stood. "I'll speak to you later, then," he said, turning and gulping down the rest of his bottle of water while he made his way back out of the library.

Alone again - though Loki's peace only lasted a few minutes. He'd managed to write two sentences by the time the sound of something vibrating against wood disturbed him, and he twisted in his seat to retrieve his phone from his jacket draped over the back of his chair. It was Tony calling.

"Hey," he said once Loki answered. "Why are you talking so quietly?"

"I'm in the library. What do you want?"

"How's the paper going?" Tony said rather than answer Loki's question, and Loki rolled his eyes. He'd never been one for small talk - especially when he was already busy and there were far more important things they should probably discuss. Like what the hell was going to happen between them now; that was the most pressing question in Loki's mind. Though maybe small talk was better than trying to figure that out.

"Pretty well," he said. "How's the robot going?"

"Pretty well."

"What do you want?"

"I figured we should probably talk about last night." Well that was something of a relief. It didn't do much to ease the knot in Loki's stomach, but it was a conversation they really should have, and sooner rather than later. "Can I see you?"

"I can head to yours once I've finished up here, if you like."

"Great. See you then."

He hung up, leaving Loki to focus on finally getting his work done. It wasn't an easy task now the prospect of his conversation with Tony later weighed on his mind. Neither was high on Loki's list of fun ways to waste his Sunday, but he fought to keep from thinking about what exactly it was he wanted from Tony - and thinking about Tony in general - and once he got back into the swing of writing his paper the words flowed a little easier, Tony slipped a little further from his mind, and he managed to finish up before too long.

 

It was just after five when Loki climbed the steps to Tony's front door and gave three sharp knocks. Various sounds of shuffling and movement sounded from inside, and after a moment Tony pulled open the door with a light frown.

"Hi," he said uncertainly. "Do I know you?"

"You're hilarious."

His expression immediately melted into a grin. "I like to think so."

"Well somebody should, I suppose," Loki replied as he stepped inside. The place wasn't nearly as tidy as it had been last night. Somehow Loki got the feeling this was what it usually looked like. Tony wasn't the type to balance his social life and the countless things on his mind at any given moment with keeping his home in order.

"I ordered a pizza," Tony said, gesturing back to the kitchen while Loki shrugged out of his coat. "You hungry?"

"Sure." He followed Tony into the kitchen and they settled down at the table, helping themselves to a slice of warm pizza each and eating in silence as they waited for the other to start speaking.

"So..." Tony said after a moment.

"I don't want to date you," Loki said. He'd attempted to think everything through during the walk from his room, but he'd barely come to a decision, let alone planned what he was going to say. He had hoped he would sound a little more eloquent, though. "Last night was fun, and if we were to do it again I'd have no objection, but I'm not looking for anything more than that. I'd rather we just stayed friends."

Tony nodded. "Good idea."

"You agree?"

"Yeah. I mean, the idea of having a grown-up relationship with you isn't as scary as I thought it would be, but we'd probably just fuck it up if we tried. And I don't want things to be weird between us. So, friends?"

"Definitely," Loki said with a smile, and Tony held out his hand to shake on it.

"We can still sleep together though, right?"

Well Loki was hardly going to say no to that, was he? "I think I could live with that arrangement."

"You want to stay here tonight, then?"

Loki grinned. He tossed down his half-eaten slice of pizza and stood, grabbing Tony by the hand and leading him upstairs toward the bedroom.


End file.
